Kick off Super Bowl XLVIII week with these 48 factoids

Some 48 billion words will probably be written or texted about the 48th Super Bowl before next Sunday. Here are 1,600 to give you a head start -- 48 factoids you should know about Super Bowl XLVIII:

1. This will be the first time a Super Bowl has been played outdoors in the north. And probably the last. The next three Super Bowls are in Glendale, Ariz., San Francisco, and Houston.

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2. The Broncos and Seahawks have already played this season at MetLife Stadium, which is located across the Hudson River from Manhattan in East Rutherford, N.J. Both teams beat up the host New York Giants -- Denver by a 41-23 score on Sept. 15, and Seattle 23-0 on Dec. 15. For Denver, the temperature was 21.1C (70F) at kickoff; for Seattle, 2.2C (36F) with a -1.1C (30F) wind chill.

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3. The longterm forecast for next Sunday, according to Weather.com, calls for a temperature of 1.7C (35F) with a -2.2C (28F) wind chill, and a 30% chance of snow showers. Not bad. These conditions would be almost identical to those the Seahawks experienced at MetLife Stadium seven weeks earlier.

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4. Before there were Super Bowls, eight NFL championship games were staged in New York City, all in December. The last was in 1962, when Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers thumped the host Giants 16-7 at old Yankee Stadium.

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5. This is the fifth time Seattle head coach and defensive specialist Pete Carroll has game-planned for quarterback Peyton Manning in the NFL. The previous four times occurred in 1998 and 1999. When Carroll was head coach of the New England Patriots, Manning was in his first two years with the Indianapolis Colts, and the Buffalo Bills ruled the AFC East. Yes, a long time ago. Carroll's Patriots won three of four.

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6. The first Carroll-vs.-Manning meeting was in September 1998. Carroll's Patriots beat Manning's Colts 29-6. The Pats picked off Manning three times in just his second NFL game, and first road start.